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Random thoughts on our impending doom and everyday life, courtesy of a Romance Writer who occasionally feels the need to talk like a Sailor.

Friday, 8 June 2012

Wherein I apologise for objectifying certain people...

It’s recently been
brought to my attention that objectifying people is wrong. Really, really
wrong. Because beautiful people have minds too. Personalities. Stuff. You know
what I mean. So I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise. You could say it’s part of the Act Appropriate
mantra taken from the last post I did on etiquette.

Now, some schools of thought
believe that objectifying or surveying certain people purely with regards to sexual
intent is harmful. It’s possibly bad for you baby. It’s also possibly demeaning to the
person involved. On the other hand, to see someone sexually and to appreciate their
physical appearance is not necessarily to believe that they don’t have other
facets to their personality. That they lack intelligence or a life worth living
outside of being a sexual object. Maybe it cuts both ways, hmm?

There are no
doubt situations wherein people are so obsessed with seeing a particular person
in a sexual frame of mind that they cease to realise the person exists outside
of this. But equally of course there has to be some space for appreciating
people’s physical beauty and sexuality not least because we all do it with our
partners and potential partners. There would presumably be something wrong with
our relationships if we didn’t do so.

So it can’t follow automatically that
perceiving someone as beautiful and sexually attractive is to forget that they
have other dimensions to their character. It’s also not to say that there isn’t art
within the sexually charged shots. You can find the image of a person sexually
attractive because that picture tells you something about that photo that
appeals to your sexy time side.